Dairy Farmers and Jakovina Still Without Agreement After 10 Hours of Negotiations

At the meeting of the Milk Council at the Ministry of Agriculture, which lasted more than ten hours, no concrete agreement was reached, so producers continue to suspend milk deliveries and do not rule out the possibility of border blockades.

President of the Croatian Association of Milk Producers, Davorin Blažić, stated after the meeting that nothing proposed by the farmers was accepted.

– We lowered the demand for the purchase price of milk from 4.05 kuna per liter to 3.5 kuna, which was not accepted; processors are offering 2.43 kuna, which is unacceptable to the farmers, he said. He announced that he would hold a coordination meeting, does not rule out the possibility of border blockades, and the suspension of milk deliveries continues.

Minister of Agriculture Tihomir Jakovina stated that a lot of good things were accomplished at the Council, which lasted more than ten hours, a dairy package was presented, and the measures that were taken were confirmed – two more installments for milk for 2012, which are a kind of advance payment of subsidies. A whole package of measures through HBOR related to loan restructuring was also presented, and for the production of 2012, within the budget funds for agricultural subsidies, a possibility was found to secure an additional 167 million kuna in subsidies for dairy cows, suckler cows, and beef cattle.

Regarding the purchase price of milk, Jakovina said that the dairy industry offered a price of 2.43 kuna per liter, which is 28 lipa more than the current price. He believes that this is a very fair offer from the dairy industry and notes that some producers agreed to this price and will continue to deliver milk under more favorable conditions.

Regarding the announced border blockade, Jakovina said that these are political and populist announcements, stating that out of an average of 1.5 million liters of milk delivered daily in Croatia, 120 thousand liters did not reach their destination yesterday, which means that only eight percent are dissatisfied. He once again appealed to all producers to accept the funds that have been secured for assistance to the sector and producers.

Jakovina also commented on the uninvited arrival of the head of the Crisis Staff for the Defense of Milk Prices, Antun Laslo, noting that Laslo bypassed all security measures, attempted to attend the Council, and spoke as an uninvited guest. Such self-promotion and self-assertion are not the way to work for the benefit of the sector itself, the minister said.